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| AAPG Student Chapter Program. Student Affairs Coordinator. P.O. Box 979; Tulsa, OK 74101-0979 | call toll free (USA and Canada): 1-888-945-2274 ext. 2653 | phone (918) 560-2653 | fax (918) 560-2694 |
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Internships
Following
message was sent by David Applegate,
Ph.D. Director of Government Affairs, American Geological Institute, 4220
King Street, Alexandria VA 22302-1502, (703) 379-2480 voice, (703) 379-7563
fax, applegate@agiweb.org http://www.agiweb.org
Please pass the following internship information along to your chapter members. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists is sponsoring internships in geoscience and public policy at the American Geological Institute during the fall semester of 1999. AGI also sponsors summer internships, and both programs are described in the following message. In addition to the general intern activities, AAPG-sponsored interns will have a special focus on issues related to oil and gas policy.
Participation by AAPG student chapter members is particularly encouraged. Please feel free to contact David Applegate or Kasey Shewey White at AGI with any questions at govt@agiweb.org or 703-379-2480.
Internships In Geoscience & Public Policy Are you interested in attending congressional hearings on pressing
environmental, energy and resource issues? Meeting with key staff members
of the legislative and executive branch? Conducting research at the
Library of Congress on current policy issues?
These are just some of the many activities undertaken
by interns with the American Geological Institute's (AGI) Government
Affairs Program. Representing the geoscience community in Washington
DC, the program actively works with Congress and federal agencies to
foster sound public policy in areas that affect geoscientists, including
water, energy, and mineral resources; geologic hazards; environmental
protection; and federal funding for geoscience research and education.
AGI seeks outstanding geoscience students with a strong
interest in federal science policy for both a summer and semester-long
internship in geoscience and public policy. Interns will gain a first-hand
understanding of the legislative process and the operation of executive
branch agencies.
They will also hone both their writing and Web publishing
skills. Specific activities for the interns include:
AGI/AAPG Fall Semester Internships
AGI and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists
plan to sponsor two interns during the fall semester of 1999.
The internship lasts 14 weeks and carries a $3,500 stipend. Interns
are strongly encouraged to obtain course credit for their work.
Application Deadline: March 1, 1999
AGI/AIPG Summer Internships
Application Procedures
AGI is an equal-opportunity employer
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Student Chapter UpdateSeveral student chapters have asked for suggestions to be successful and outstanding, to raise awareness and effectiveness. This section is devoted to give you reports and ideas to spark your creativity.
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Oil and Uncertainty...
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 Uncertainty about the future has always been an integral part of careers in the geosciences. There have been ups and downs in the oil and gas business, the environmental industry, mining, construction, engineering geology and geohazard mitigation. The government has ups and downs in spending that affects careers in research, academia and a host of government funded programs in private industry. The current downturn in the oil industry has sent a wave of uncertainty into the lives of every geoscientist and every student looking forward to a long and rewarding career in this field. This uncertainty does not go away. The question is how we deal with it. You have options. You may relish the challenge that uncertainty presents or you may wish to seek a more risk-free future. But if we have learned nothing else it is that life comes with no guarantees. The best defense against the uncertainties of life is your own intelligence and intuition and the collective brainpower of you and your colleagues. The way to deal with uncertainty is to embrace it, dissect it, understand it and ultimately make it a fundamental component of your personal career plan. You look at the future with reason and discipline and create contingency plans. You periodically consider what is the worst thing that could happen over the next five weeks, five months and five years, live through it in your mind and decide what you would do. You have to get pretty good at the game of "What if....?" What if this downturn stretches into the year 2000? 2005? 2010? How does that effect me? What will I do? As the song says, "You gotta make a new plan, Sam." What if the downturn ends as abruptly as it began? Would you stay in school and finish your degree or opt for a job if the opportunity came along? What should I be doing right now to prepare me to succeed no matter what turn the oil industry takes in the future? What do I ultimately want and expect from a career in the geosciences? What is really important to me about having a career anyway? For some of you the current downturn has more impact than for others. If you are planning to enter the job market this year you might be more concerned than those who still have several years until graduation might. All of you have decisions to make. In that process be sure to base your decision on what you know to be true, not what you hear or what you assume to be true. Check it out. The old adage is that times are never as bad nor as good as people say. And equally important the same set of facts may mean something entirely different to you than it does to someone else. You will have different goals based on different fundamental values. Treat the current shock wave as a blessing in disguise. Since ups and downs are recurring events in this field, it should make you reexamine your commitment, dedication and desire to be a part of this profession. More importantly it should make it clear that you need to know how to plan and manage your own career no matter what course you pursue. The attitude that the business environment requires today is to think of yourself as permanently self-employed. You make the decisions about who you will work with, and you do not abdicate the responsibility for self -development and life-long learning. You meet and exceed the requirements of any job you take on your way to achieving life goals that you continuously reevaluate as you grow. Students ask what employers are looking for these days. In the broadest sense they are looking for flexibility, problem solving ability and tolerance and acceptance of change. Employers attribute these traits to youth and appear willing to trade off extensive experience for flexibility. One way you can stand out in the crowd is to develop the ability to anticipate change, not just accept it. And this is a skill that will prove invaluable in your own career planning. |
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A big part of being self-employed is the need to market yourself. Marketing is the process of aligning your skills and abilities with the needs of people who will pay for them. This presumes that you take the time to discover what your most marketable skills are and who needs them. Coping with uncertainty can be a very lonely task. One of the strengths of your student chapter is the opportunity it presents to deal with some of these issues as a group. It is characteristic of our profession to foster independence and competition, yet band together when things get difficult. Student bonds are generally strong and, the student chapter provides a forum to focus on career issues as well as exchange ideas about the science. The chapter also provides the place to start building your network of contacts. This is a lifelong process and its importance is impossible to overestimate. Perhaps the biggest source of information about all of these topics is the Internet. The AAPG is in the process of retooling its web site particularly with respect to career information and services. Hundreds of web sites have been examined and evaluated. The AAPG web site will contain pertinent information supplemented by extensive links to key sites dealing with jobs, job search skills, continuing education, personal inventories and scenarios of the future. There is a great deal of information about scenario planning and related topics on the Web. Your student chapter might undertake to create some scenarios for the future from your perspective. Much advice, however, is best delivered face to face, over the phone or by e- mail correspondence. The student chapter is the best vehicle for attracting help and advice about careers and the working environment outside the University through these media. If you have questions, the student chapter through its connections will likely find someone to provide the answers. The AAPG is committed to helping dedicated students launch successful careers. For that help to be effective the AAPG needs to know what your needs are. Your ideas are welcome. Ultimately the key to a satisfying career is your own effort at developing a plan. Many people take the position that planning is useless in uncertain times. Nothing could be further from the truth. The planning process needs to include contingencies. In rapidly changing, uncertain times one of the more useful tools is scenario planning. This is a process of creating a variety of alternative futures. Whatever technique you employ, your career plan needs the built-in flexibility to anticipate and adapt to change. But the core of the plan is you own personal mission based on your fundamental values. Ironically the key to successful flexibility is a core of non-negotiable values. That is what makes for good decisions. Virtually every "career guide" starts with some exercise in clarifying you values. Do not take this lightly because everything that comes after depends on it. You are not alone. Advice on many topics is as close as your e-mail. There are web sites that address many critical topics, and the library is filled with articles and books. We can recommend a few including We Are All Self Employed: The New Social Contract for Working in a Changed World by Cliff Hakim, Marketing Your Services: A Step-by-Step Guide for Small Businesses and Professionals by Anthony Putman, The 500 Year Delta: What Happens After What Comes Next by Watts Wacker and Jim Taylor and The Max Strategy: How a Businessman Got Stuck at the Airport and Learned How to Make His Career Take Off by Dale Dauten. You can contact me at kfwantland@aol.com. |
In North America environmental geology, inorganic geochemistry, and stratigraphy/sedimentology are the most often-cited departmental strengths. Outside of North America stratigraphy/sedimentology, economic (excluding coal and petroleum) geology, and environmental geology are the most often-cited department strengths. Note that this is the first time that outside of North America environmental geology has risen to be among the top departmental strengths. Government sponsorship in North America dominates, representing about 87 percent of the reported $197,000,000 of support. Outside of North America, government sponsorship of research accounts for ~75 percent of the research support but funding has declined to $64,000,000. Globally, equipment, space, and time are major non-financial restrictions on research. Attracting qualified graduate students is a universal problem. The percentage of graduates entering environmental positions continues to decrease. In contrast, there is an increase in the percentage of student entering the petroleum industry. A significant number of students completing their BA/BS or MA/MS degrees choose to continue their education rather than enter the job market. For a copy of the complete report, e-mail: Student Affairs Coordinator | |||||||
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